Dancing
by sunsetofdoom
Summary: Different people, different relationships, one common element. From first love to heartbreak and back again, music unites us all. Ch. 2: Gretchen finds someone to make her life much sweeter.
1. Chapter 1

Her name was Summer, and she was beautiful. Gods, she was just so _amazing_. She had walked through the gate of the backyard, only seconds after Isabella, with her curly brown-black hair partially pinned back and her dark blue, nearly violet eyes sparking with ideas and curiosity, and everything else had absolutely _vanished_. He didn't know how to tell her that of course, having absolutely no experience with girls whatsoever. Maybe he could ask Ferb? His brother did have a pretty good friend that was a sixteen-year old girl. No idea how he managed that. Or Isabella, she was a girl herself. Or Candace. No, not Candace. She would tease him until the ends of the earth. Well, both his siblings would, at one point or another, but Candace would mean it. But he still had a bad feeling that Isabella would react badly, something in her sly glances when she thought he wasn't looking that told him she wouldn't appreciate him being utterly head-over-heels for a girl he had only known for a week and a half.

But there was something in her, that he had previously thought was unique to himself. The daredevil expression, eagerness to take risks, hatred of boredom, and ability to come up with a spur-of-the-moment plan that no one else could think of if they had a thousand years to do it, all pointed to the exact same condition as he had, but distinctly and attractively... Female, in a way.

Too bad she was only gonna be there until September... He'd really have to get moving.

* * *

"Hey! Phineas! You wanna go rollerblading?" He sat up at the voice on the other line. He knew who it was. Only one person could sound so musical and sweet.

Well, their project was on its tail end, and Ferb could work it from here, especially with Isabella's help. The redhead looked up at his older brother, who was finishing some intricate construction work at the top of the structure to finish up.

"Hey, Ferb? I gotta leave. You can finish without me, right?" There was a pleading note in his voice, an unspoken message of _Please let me go, I'lll tell you later, don't ask in front of them please._

Ferb nodded slowly with narrowed eyes, words hidden in his expression, _No I won't ask, but don't think you're getting away without an explanation when you get back and if it's something suspicious I will have to hurt you. Or her. Depending on your condition._

Even after three years of doing impossibly dangerous things, Ferb was still the protective older brother. Phineas laughed at that on his way out the back gate.

He was so happy, he'd probably have laughed at anything.

* * *

He pulled himself to a stop with the most flair he could summon without killing himself on the concrete, skidding sideways in front of her. She laughed.

"Showoff."

He gave off his best sunshine-bringing half-smirk, flinging his arms around in a caricature of an elegant bow.

"Thank you, thank you, I'll be here till Thursday.." He broke into laughter.

"Come on, you goof." She was laughing now, too, and she slid herself over to him gracefully, reaching out to take one of his hands in hers.

"Let's go."

"Where to?" He had to force the words to sound semi-normal and not squeak or break with his excitement. Gods, her hand was so _warm_...

"Wherever the wind takes us!" Summer was pulling him forward, her laughter sparkling with her slight Greek accent and bubbling with enthusiasm of a magnitude he had thought only he could muster.

Phineas's grin widened to the point where he thought his face might split, and he followed her onto a street he had never been on.

This would seem to be the start of an adventure of epic proportions.

* * *

They had somehow ended up on a park bench behind a playground and in front of a patch of forest, the sidewalk that they had rode in on bumpy from countless children writing their names in the concrete while it was drying. They had both removed their skates, tying them together and slinging them over shoulders for easy transport.

As it turns out, both of them had put on mismatching socks in their haste to meet together, which had sparked nervous laughter and both preteens frantically stuffing their socks into their skates, eager to hide the semi-evidence of their mutual infatuation.

Somehow, the conversation turned to whatever he and his brother had done that day... What was it again? A blimp? So easy to forget his carefully-planned "Best day ever", when what had actually made his day the greatest in recorded history was sitting right next to him.

"Oh, Truth and Love should be able to finish. They work well together. Always thought that they'd be a great couple, except for..." Phineas stopped himself just before he mentioned Isabella's crush on him. That may not have gone over well.

"Wait, who?" She was laughing. Good. Subject change.

"Well, we kinda gave each other nicknames according to the four Bohemian principles that we saw in a movie. My brother's Truth, 'cause he's logical and rational and stuff, my friend Isabella's Love, because she's such a romantic, I'm Freedom, see, cause I'm a little out there, but then actually I wanted to give you one…"

He handed her a small piece of paper, with what looked like a bunch of random lines overlapping drawn on it in a painstaking hand.

Summer arched an eyebrow with an I'm-totally-lost smile, trying to find a way to tell him that she had no idea where he was going with this.

Phineas realized that she didn't know, and started rambling… Again.

"Well, I've been making the Japanese symbols for all our nicknames, for practice when I get into Japanese at Central next year, cause I really wanna be ready in time and they generally don't go that easy on beginners.." He realized he was getting really off-topic. "Anyway.… That's yours."

"All right, what does that character mean? I don't take Japanese, Phin."

He shifted, looking down. "It's, um, Bi." It was pronounced oddly, sounding like "bee".

He hooked his blue eyes on her almost-violet ones, his voice fading almost to a whisper.

"Beauty."

For a moment, she stared at him in quiet confusion, and then, realizing the implications in that simple word, gave him her (absolutely perfect) brightest grin.

"Let's go. I have something I want to show you."

* * *

She led him down a path in the woods. Actually, it could only be loosely defined as a path, more of a slight parting in vegetation that signaled that someone had passed this way a few times a year for a while. Due to their bare feet, they had to keep their eyes on the ground to look out for poison ivy or snakes or man-eating plants, so not much conversation was going on. As a matter of fact, until she told him to stop and cover his eyes in a seemingly-random space, neither of them had said a word.

Just because his eyes were covered didn't mean he couldn't hear, though. He cought snatches of conversation.

"..Learned the song?"

"Yeah, but... Again. I don't like..."

"Again?... Only time... Last was... fifth-grade graduation.. play for... friends, remember?"

"Fine. Still."

"Jessica knows... right chords... Ashley... Lyrics, right?"

"Yeah. ...Crappy taste in music."

"Oh, you're definately one to talk, Mr. Speed-Metal-with-Violin-Solos!" This bit was clear; Summer got loud when agitated.

"... Cello, and at least it's not from... nineties."

"I'll kick your ass all the way back to the nineties if you don't get going! Now just play the song when I bring him over!" She was nearly shouting.

Then he could hear her stomping back over. He quickly shifted back to his original positioning, an I-wasn't-listening-what-no-not-at-all look on his face that the Greek girl aparrently didn't notice as she grabbed his hand with hers, and his heart with a winning smile, leading him forward in to a large grassy clearing, with a semi-abandoned stage off to one side.

Semi-abandoned because although it looked rotten, there were three people standing on it.

One super-skinny blonde girl with a guitar, all in brightest blue.

A short and stocky burnette in grey in front of a microphone.

And a very unhappy-looking boy with shaggy blackhair, sitting at a drum set.

"One, two, three!" He called out. The blonde strummed her guitar as if it was the easiest thing in the world, the drummer tapping away like nothing else mattered, and the burnette was singing-

_Kiss me out of the bearded barley_  
_Nightly, beside the green, green grass_  
_Swing, swing, swing the spinning step_  
_You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress_.

"Would you care to dance?" Summer extended her hand.

Phineas grinned. "I would love to."

So she wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands at her hips, and they swayed to the old song.

_"Oh,kiss me beneath the milky twilight  
__Lead me out on the moonlit floor_  
_Lift your open hand_  
_Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance_  
_Silver moon's sparkling_  
_So kiss me"_

Her hair was in his face, her cheek pressed tenderly against his neck, and he felt secure for some reason, barefoot in the middle of the woods and dancing with what was most likely the girl of his dreams while the dying light of the sunset made the dappled leaf-patterns on the ground look magical, mystical. It was unpredictable and yet routine. He got the feeling that if this moment were to happen exactly the same for every day of the year, it would still feel like the most wonderful thing that would ever happen to him.

_"__Kiss me down by the broken tree house_  
_Swing me upon its hanging tire_  
_Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat_  
_We'll take the trail marked on your father's map"_

_"_Are you going to do it or not?" He could feel Summer's whisper against his collarbone, making his hair stand on end from what the simple sentence might imply.

"Do what?" He was fighting a losing battle where keeping his voice level was concerned. It was difficult even to keep it from catapulting up a couple of octaves.

She giggled, and began singing along.

_"Oh, kiss me, beneath the milky twilight  
__Lead me out on the moonlit floor_  
_Lift your open hand_  
_Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance_  
_Silver moon's sparkling_  
_So kiss me"_

The last two words were a sweet, easy whisper of her breath in his ear. And when the girl onstage repeated them, wistful and longing even in her singing voice, Phineas steeled himself and pulled his head from her shoulder, staring into her gleaming indigo eyes.

And he kissed her.

_"So kiss me..."_

And it was amazing.

Unpredictable.

Warm.

Soft.

Sweet.

And it opened up an entire world of possibilities.

In short...

It was everything a summer day should be.

* * *

**All right, all right. I know, I shouldn't be starting a new story when I already have two in the works. But you know what? A: I can do what I want. What are you , my mother? Yeah, didn't think so. And B: I get things done better when I have several things to switch off between. And I'm still working on Artemis Fowl stuff, too. So nyeh.**

**Why has no one reviewed WAWG?**

**I just realized I've posted more stuff in the past week than I have in the last... Way too long. Sorry, guys. I should go on vacation more often. XP**

**If the Japanese is wrong, tell me. I found it on a random site on the internet. I think Japanese would be a good language for Phineas to learn. It's kind of hyper and fast moving. Like him. And in my private universe, he has ADHD-PI. Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder, Primarily Inattentive. It fits, dontcha think? Or not? Okay, fine then.**

**And I really do think that Phineas's first crush should be on a girl named Summer. I think it fits. And yes, she's Greek. I don't know how to write the accent, though. So I just wrote her normal and mentioned her accent at a hopefully-frequent interval. And if you want to know how the two of their relationship turned out, she left to go back to Greece at the end of August, and they wrote letters that became less and less heartfelt, until her father got transferred to work in the UK and they lost each other's addresses.**

**Next chapter is Ferb and Gretchen. I'm postponing the Phinbella as long as physically possible.**

**Live long and prosper.**


	2. Chapter 2

_"She don't run from the sun no more,  
__She boxed her shadow and she won  
__Says I can see you laugh, through these bottle caps,  
__And this wire around my neck ain't there for fun..."_

Gretchen swayed back and forth to the backup music in her head as she sang, her hand pressed against her ear to hear her own voice better. She had started this song towards the end of her English class, listening to the kids in front of her whisper about the geek behind them, not acknowledging nor caring that she could hear every word. Hiding out in the bathroom fourth period to dry her tears had been a perfect time to finish it, and the second-level back porch of her house before her parents came home was the perfect time and place to see how it sounded.

_"But someday we'll all be old and I'll be so damn beautiful  
__Meanwhile I'll hide my head here in this paper bag,  
__Cause if I can't see you, then you can't see me  
__And it'll be okay  
__Fly little bee away, to where there's no more rain  
__And I can be me."_

She allowed the tiniest of smiles to creep onto her face. This was the best song she had written in a while. It was perfect. She would show them. Show them all what that geeky girl with the coke-bottle lenses could do.

_"Yeah, they talk about her  
__She smiles like she's so tough  
__She says, "Hey, can you talk a little louder?  
__I don't think my heart is broken enough."  
__But someday we'll all be old and I'll be so damn beautiful  
__Meanwhile I'll hide my head here in this paper bag  
__Cause if I can't see you then you can't see me  
__And it'll be okay  
__Fly little bee away, to where there's no more rain  
__And I can be me  
__Some days I wade in the indigo  
__Singin' that song on the radio  
__I blame these puddles on the rain  
__No, I gotta keep these cheeks dry today  
__Gotta keep my cheatin' strategy  
__And baby, I'm gonna have it made."_

Absorbed as she was in the music, she barely noticed that there was a guitar in the background, contrasting with the singing part perfectly. That wasn't unusual- a lot of times she heard the music in her head when she sang. But this was a part she hadn't thought about adding, yet she could hear it, flowing with song, keeping the tone and heart of the lyrics, yet still adding something more complex and elegant. It was coming from-

The tall, green-haired boy sitting on her fence! With an acoustic guitar in hand! _Looking at her!_

And just like every other girl in school, (except Isabella at least), Gretchen had a slight crush on the mysterious foreign boy. She paused in shock- why would he be doing this for her, of all people?

But he gestured for her to keep singing. She took the hint, and kept going, this time with her eyes open, a proud, determined smile on her lips.

_"But someday we'll all be old and I'll be so damn beautiful  
__So I hide my head, here in this paper bag,  
__'Cause if I can't see you then you can't see me,  
__And it'll be okay  
__Fly little bee away, to where there's no more rain  
__And I can be me, yeah!  
__I hide my head, here in this paper bag,  
__'Cause if I can't see you then you can't see me,  
__And it'll be okay  
__Fly little bee away, to where there's no more rain  
__And I can be me, I can be me. Where I can be me..."_

She let the last line trail off as she listened to the last strains of music echo away from Ferb's guitar, holding onto the moment that was undoubtedly the best she would have in a while. She smiled.

"Oi! Come down!"

She glanced down at him, surprised by the usually silent or at least quiet neighborhood wrench monkey being suddenly loud and insistent.

"How? I'm on the second story!"

He raised an eyebrow with a look that clearly said, _"Figure it out"_.

She gave him a smug grin, and began climbing down the side of the house, using various tree branches and vines for support, finally dropping herself onto a tightrope-walker position on the narrow fence.

Ferb raised his eyebrows in what she hoped was approval. He hopped off the fence.

"Want to go for a walk?" His hand was extended towards her.

_Oh my God his accent..._

She took his hand, and jumped to the ground, not caring about the carefully-manicured grass that her father would kill her for stepping on.

He put his hand on her shoulder, guiding her over to the gate even though she knew where it was. She did live there, after all. But his touch was gentle, even though it came from calloused hands.

As they walked down the street, heading towards town, he seemed to pull a pair of headphones out of nowhere, offering one to her. Gretchen put it in her ear.

_"When I tell you something, I wanna hold your hand..."_

She raised an amused eyebrow. "The Beatles?"

"My dad's obsessive." He rolled his eyes, then grew more serious.

"Although it does fit the situation at hand..."

And he extended his left hand, palm upright, waiting for her to take it.

She looked at him with disbelieving eyes. This was going on record as the best day of her life.

She intertwined her fingers with his, and they walked down the street together, in the almost-setting sun.

* * *

**C'est tres adorable, oui, ou non? Haha. My French class is getting to me.**

**This is the second in the Dancing series, which is now on hiatus because I have a million other things to do. Like, my new Spirited Away/Phineas and Ferb CROSSOVER, which I'm thinking about putting in the main section because A: It's not that much of a crossover, with no actual characters from the movie being used, just the situation, and B: it'll get more hits/reviews. XP Anyways, so I've been typing, like, a thousand words a day on that stupid thing, but I'm home sick today (again) and so I thought I'd give my brain a rest from translating Korean, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Japanese... Ugh. It's very complex. **

**And all of you totally need to go to my DeviantART and see some of the awesome stuff that SteveTwisp keeps drawing for me... 'Cause it's amazing. And awesome. And yeah. **

**So. Anyways... Yeah. Review please.**


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